‘Jeanne du Barry’ director Maïwenn admits to spitting in journalist’s face
Maiwenn Le Besco, the French actress and film director whose film Jeanne du Barry is set to premiere at Cannes next week, has admitted to spitting in a journalist’s face. The film stars Johnny Depp and is set to open the world-renowned film festival.
Known simply as Maïwenn, Le Besco has admitted that she assaulted Mediapart founder Edwy Plenel. Mediapart, an investigative news site, published a story where several women accused Le Besco’s ex-husband Luc Besson of rape. During a recent appearance on the nightly talk show Quotidien, Maïwenn was asked if she assaulted Plenel, to which she replied: “Do I confirm that I assaulted him? (…) yes.” [quotes via The Telegraph].
After a short pause, she added: “It’s not the time. I’ll speak about it when I’m ready. I’m very anxious about the release of my film.” In his formal complaint, Plenel said that he’d been dining at a restaurant in Paris’ 12th arrondissement in late February when Maiwenn, sitting alone at another table, approached him, tilted his head back and spat in his face.
In the complaint, Plenel writes that the incident was “damaging on a moral and psychological level” and that he was left feeling “very traumatised”.
In 2018, Mediapart published several reports based on the accounts of women who had accused Besson – the father of one of Maiwenn’s children – of rape and sexual assault. Last year, a number of rape accusations made against the director were dropped due to lack of evidence.
Never Miss A Scene
The Far Out Film Newsletter
All the latest film news from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.